Will the Colorado Rockies Host a Fire Sale?

The Rockies have several players closing in on free agency that would draw considerable interest from the market. Several journalists are already calling Matt Holliday the Mark Teixeira of this year's trade deadline.

Holliday is a free agent after the 2009 season, and with Boras as his agent, it is unlikely that they would negotiate during the season to keep him there. There are several teams with deep farm systems that could use a power hitter like Holliday, but might not be willing to surrender the prospects the Rockies will be looking for. The Rockies will be looking for top-of-the-line prospects, while the team acquiring him will only want to surrender mid-to-low level prospects.

This is mainly because Holliday's road numbers are so slanted. Holliday is a career .364 hitter at home with 73 HR, while only hitting .274 with 36 HR on the road. A team acquiring him might not want to pay $100 million to a player if he is only going to hit around .280 with 20 HR.

As for teams that could be interested, the Yankees seem like a good fit. They need a middle-lineup type of hitter, and bringing him in would allow them to shop one of their aging outfielders. I doubt the Red Sox would try to respond and fight the Yankees for him, but if they are not interested in brining Manny Ramirez back, Holliday would be a good option in left field.

The Cardinals need a hitter to protect Albert Pujols in the lineup and Holliday would definitely do that job. Not to mention that he would be a big upgrade over Chris Duncan in left field. It could cost them several prospects, but it would be worth it for the Cardinals.

Closer Brian Fuentes is off to a good year, and will probably also be traded by the Rockies before he becomes a free agent. One possible option for him is the Cardinals. Due to Jason Isringhausen's inability to find his groove, they are in need of a closer. Packaging him and Holliday would make a lot of sense.

For more on Garrett Atkins, click here.